I searched for a similar topic to this and all the results I got were from 2007. So, I thought it would be good to have an updated discussion of which is better, which you personally prefer, and all things related. If there is a more recent topic on this please let me know.

I have never gotten a book graded, but my understanding is that CGC is the standard in grading at the moment with PGX close on its hills. I've looked at the sites of each company and discovered that PGX is cheaper, turn-around is shorter, allow a higher fair market value for each service, slabs more types of books than CGC, includes loose items in the slab with the comic, has a better slab (opinion), you don't have to go through a dealer to send in your books, and offers all of the same services as CGC and more. I'm leaning toward PGX, but the only downside to PGX that I can see is that CGC is a more well known and respected company, thus more people accept their grades as being more accurate. Whether they are more accurate or not I leave up to you.

Joined: 1/25/2008Posts: 2,251Points: 80,531Location: where else my house in NC

comic is only worth as much as a person is willing to pay but does seem people will pay more for the cgc sorry off subject but I know your like me and like Budd Root got a run of cavewoman rain the other day all looked just like they had come from the printers could probly get 9.8's on all of them if not higher they were awesome.

As you mentioned, both companies do have their pros and cons. And, both have been through some difficult times involving a bit of controversy surrounding their grading, and it's reputability. Although, PGX seems to continually have problems in that department.

Some time back, when PGX was first established, the owner was found to be grading and selling his own comics. This is obviously a huge conflict of interest. CGC's official policy is that their owners and employers are not supposed to actively sell or collect comics - whether or not that's a policy that is monitored, is unknown to me. And, since the controversy, many years ago, surrounding the owner of PGX, he has since publicly stated that he no longer collects individual comics, only Graphic Novels, and no longer sells comics either.

There has also been some controversy around restoration detection. It has been stated that PGX does not have any restoration detection. That is simply untrue. PGX does do restoration checks, and has an official label, much like CGC, for that instance. In there early days, there were some documented cases of restored books getting through PGX with a universal (blue) label. While this is true, the exact same thing happened to CGC when they were first starting out.

The last time I submitted comics to both CGC and PGX, PGX was the only option for grading JayCompany covers, so that was definately a determining factor when wanting to have JayCo's slabbed. And, as you mentioned, turnaround time and cost seems to be lower with PGX.

My last two CGC submissions were returned with at least 1/20 of the cases cracked. The packing was... eh. For the money I spent, sure expected a little better packaging. When I called CGC about the issue, they stated they would recase the books for free, but would not pay for shipping to or from their facility. Or, I could file an insurance claim. Also, of around 20 or so books, per submission, I found about 16 to be graded right where I expected them to be, 2 much higher, and 2 much lower. About the same ratio with PGX as well. Except none of the PGX cases were broken. Of course there was no shipping, as I picked them up personally. But, I do agree about the PGX case being of higher quality.

As far as their grading in comparison to each other. IMO, CGC might grade about 1/2 a grade stricter, on average. So, a submitter might receive higher grades with PGX.

At point of sale, CGC books might realize higher prices paid then for comparable PGX books. The question here is, does the reduced cost and time of PGX VS. CGC make up for any difference in final sale price. It also depends on if an individual wants to resell their books once graded, or keep them.

Those are just my thoughts based on personal experience submitting to both companies, and from what I've read on different sites, and the company websites.

Just a few observations from my buying and selling both PGX and CGC. For some reason(s), people seem to prefer CGC. As a seller of graded comics on fee-bay for instance, I've learned to not even bother with PGX because buyers just don't seem to want them. Also, if you do a search on fee-bay for both "PGX" and then "CGC", the sheer amount of CGC books available vs PGX is huge. On a more personal level, I think that the CGC label looks much more professional than the PGX label. And as far as submitting comics, you almost have to be a lawyer to fill out the CGC form where as the PGX form is much simpler and straight foward. To summerize from a sellers perspective, CGC gets my money because thats the graded format that the general public prefers.

So I've been thinking of getting some more books together to send off to PGX for grading/slabbing. I'm pretty satisfied with the job they did on the first batch I sent them, then I came across this: http://www.youtube.com/user/BLMODIRECT

I'm not so sure anymore and I'm a little worried about the books I've already had graded.

I don't like either and hope this whole thing is just a fad. Comics are made to be read. Period.

Absolutely, big guy. I'm with you all the way on that one.I find the whole notion of both CGC and PDX abomninable. Easier, better and cheaper ways of preserving your old comics are out there. I understand, however, that it's a personal choice to seal up perfectly good comics- fair enough, but the choice between the two just reminds me of the VHS/Betamax war in the 80's. And NOBODY uses either now!

So I've been thinking of getting some more books together to send off to PGX for grading/slabbing. I'm pretty satisfied with the job they did on the first batch I sent them, then I came across this: http://www.youtube.com/user/BLMODIRECT

I'm not so sure anymore and I'm a little worried about the books I've already had graded.

I'd just like to throw my two cents into the fray because I needed to vent about this lol.

I recently had a handful of books graded by CGC, and a handful of books graded by PGX. Let me just tell you, CGC's customer service is atrocious. I mean beyond poor. I will NEVER do business with them again, nor will I buy a book graded by them. My friend and I sent out 6 modern day comics for regular grading on June 21. This service is supposed to take 20 business days (1 month). Do you know how long it was until we got our comics back? DECEMBER (120 business days, 6 months)!! Their communication as to the delay? Vague references (to the comic shop we did it though) of backups due to comic con and losing some graders to the competition (PGX). So for 6 months, we were completely in the dark as to the status of our comics.

On the other hand, we recently sent out 12 modern comics to PGX. PGX sent us an email upon their receipt of the books (1 week after we shipped them), along with their estimated date that they'd be done by. They then sent out an email when the books actually did ship (7 business days after the first email)along with the tracking number. And, oh by the way, they beat their own estimated finish date by a week. They certainly did an excellent job with communication and kept us informed every step of the way.

As for prices, again, it wasn't really close. With shipping and the broker fee we had to pay the comic shop, CGC ended up being about $30 a book to grade. With all costs included for PGX, it ended up being about $15 per book.

As for the quality of the grading. I think they're pretty much the same in my opinion. Especially considering CGC has lost a few graders to PGX, I imagine the difference is only due to reputation due to CGC's long foothold in the business. In my opinion, even IF CGC was marginally better at grading, the vast difference between the two companies in customer service and price would still make me use PGX again over CGC.

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